This invention is generally concerned with the filling of coke oven chambers.
More particularly, the invention relates to a method for preventing unintended charging of coke oven chambers.
The invention also relates to apparatus for carrying out this method.
The accidental charging (admission) of coal into already full coke oven chambers, or into those which are still closed, is a safety hazard. It is particularly hazardous if the coal being thus admitted is preheated, because such preheated coal tends to smolder or even burst into flame in the presence of oxygen, i.e., when the aforementioned conditions obtain.
A proposal has been made in German Published Application OS No. 2,313,441 for a device which monitors the filling level of a coke oven during the filling thereof, and interrupts the further admission of coal when a predetermined level is reached. This, however, is strictly limited to supervision of the filling level while the actual filling takes place and therefore cannot prevent accidental charging in situations where no such charging should be occurring in the first place.
It is also known to automate the charging process using e.g., preheated coal. In such a system a preselector (or a computer) can determine in advance which of the several coke oven chambers is to be charged, so that even if the charging car should travel to the wrong chamber due to an error or a malfunction, a charging operation for the wrong chamber cannot be initiated. Even then, however, there is no absolute guarantee against accidental charging. For example, a program malfunction may make it necessary to switch over from automated operation to manually controlled operation, thereby restoring the danger of accidental charging.